la Negrita [J]

Computer free time.

The end is near. I have less than two weeks left in Potrero. AM continues to offer me new projects to undertake. I spent this past week supervising the computer classes AM offers 1.5 hours per day. Next week I will assist with the English classes in Brasilito. I am excited to return to the children of Brasilito whom I bonded with. In addition, I have been asked to transfer the data of the community sentiment surveys into an excel workbook, execute the analysis of the data, design a step-by-step how-to for all the work I have done with the community sentiment surveys, design a revised version of each of the surveys we created less than two months ago (to be used next year), and author a report which summarizes my work. Also, since more surveys translates to a more accurate representation of the population, continuing to execute new interviews remains imperative. I am currently 30 surveys short of my goal. To reach this goal, I will have to rely heavily on interviewing the parents of students who participate with AM.

The cavalry

"I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began."

August 2 is el dia de la Virgen de Los Angeles (Day of the Virgin of Los Angeles), a national holiday in Costa Rica. Costa Rica's patron saint, also known as la Negrita, is said to have miraculously appeared in the Basilica Los Angeles in Cartago, Costa Rica. As I understand it, many Ticos believe La Negrita grants miracles for her faithful. On August 2, pilgrims from all over the country walk the 22km from San Jose to Cartago as a form of penance in hopes for receiving miracles, some even finish the pilgrimage on their knees. However, there are a few other major churches which host this celebration to make the pilgrimage manageable throughout the country. The nearest such church to Potrero is in a town called Cartagena. In effort to experience the Tico culture, I and two other AM volunteers went with Abelino on this pilgrimage. There are two routes to get there. The most direct route, which cuts through the mountains and is considered more dangerous, is roughly 17km. The other route through the cities is 29km. We took the shorter route. Our journey began at 3am, we arrived at Cartagena around 7am. The scenery on the way to Cartagena was continually breathtaking. It began with a fair night sky loaded with vivid shooting stars and brilliant constellations. I felt as if Orion was majestically laying on the mountaintop watching over us. The colorful sunrise was accompanied by a slight fog which fell from the mountains twisting its way through a multitude of tree types. The weather was pleasant. We arrived at the church about 1.5 hours before the parade which carries a separate monument of the virgin for each of the major towns of Guanacaste. As I entered the church, I witnessed two men on their knees who prayed at the entrance of the church then proceeded on their knees to the altar.
Hundreds of people attended mass. The town then continues the celebration day and night. Traditional food, live music, dance, games, and horseback activities keep the masses entertained. It is quite a social event.

We were tired when we arrived at the plaza in Cartagena.